I Left My Heart in South America

I Left My Heart in South America

By: Dawn Powell

With initial hopes of improving my Spanish skills and visiting some places I'd seen in pictures and learned about in school, I decided to go to South America. Summer turned into a journey I could not have dreamed of.

I landed in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where I would study Spanish and live with a host family for the next seven weeks. I got to know the city intimately, visiting the distinct barrios, studying at corner cafes and learning how to tango. I ventured out on weekends to hang glide, dance samba all night, and horseback ride in the sierras of Córdoba, Argentina's second largest city. I ambled through the cobblestone streets of Colonia, Uruguay, relaxed on the breathtaking beaches of Florianópolis, Brazil and hiked around the powerful and expansive Iguazu Falls. A week in Rio de Janeiro to visit one of the new Seven Wonders of the World, the statue of Christ the Redeemer, was the high point of my trip.

When I said my goodbyes to Argentina and Brazil and got on a bus to Santiago, Chile with nothing more than a backpack in tow, the adventure had just begun. I had three weeks to get to Lima, Peru, which I thought would be sufficient time. Then I got to Bolivia, where five-hour bus trips turned into 13-hour fiascos because the miners were on strike, blocking all roads in the country.

The circumstances allowed me to slow down and fully witness the natural beauty, learn about their current politics, and make some amazing friends. I navigated the salt flats in an old Land Cruiser and never paid over a dollar for a three-course lunch. While visiting the Island of the Sun in Lake Titicaca, where the Incas believe the world was born, one experience sticks out above them all; biking 64 km along the World's Most Dangerous Road, descending 11,800 feet from the biting cold of the mountains to the humid heat of the jungle, with a 1,000 meter sheer cliff threatening me along the way. To say I had an adrenaline rush is an understatement. The crosses along the side of "Death Road" made its name almost too real, but I fortunately made it out alive and continued traveling on to Peru and eventuallyback home to southern California.

Two and a half months of exploring only left me wanting more. A continent filled with unsurpassable beauty, seeping with culture, and driven by the human spirit of resilience, South America is calling me back. And I am already planning a trip to Ecuador this winter.